The key answer however arguably lies with the MSBs themselves. What can owners do to drive stronger performance? FT journalist Chris Bryant offered a list of success factors that are commonly found in German Mittelstand organisations, acknowledging that the hardest challenge may be to imitate these values.
Being able to act swiftly and decisively is a value that MSBs commonly harness to advantage. Maintaining independence and a long-term focus in another core value plus avoiding debt. Of course, innovation is critical and MSBs are often specialists with strong intellectual property and brands focused on premium markets. The best of these companies generally avoid reliance on a single market and many concentrate on exporting and internationalisation.
Another less recognised but powerful advantage point for Germany’s MSBs is harnessing networks- leveraging their social capital. This can be anything from interacting through groups such as trade associations as well as meeting via informal networks sharing intelligence. FBN International, and its UK chapter the IFB, offer popular meeting points for successful family MSBs. In October over 750 owners and members of the FBN network will gather in London for the 23rd FBN Global Summit to debate the key drivers for “extraordinary performance” sharing knowledge and best practice.
